Michigan schools likely will get more state aid

LANSING — Michigan's K-12 public schools would get between $56 and $112 more per pupil next budget year and grants would be available to start smaller high schools under a proposal approved Thursday by the state Senate.

The per-pupil increases of less than 2 percent won't cover inflation and likely won't prevent more cuts in some school budgets next academic year. It's a sign Michigan's state government continues to struggle to make ends meet, in part because of a sluggish economy.

"In the context of the times, this is pretty much what folks expected," said Tom White, executive director of the Michigan School Business Officials.

The school aid budget passed the Senate by a 31-4 vote. The House could vote on the proposal as early as next week.

The lowest-funded districts in the state would get the largest per-pupil increase of $112. Districts would get a minimum of $7,316 per student for the fiscal year starting in October.

Districts on the higher end of the current funding scale will receive smaller per-pupil increases, sometimes amounting to a less than 1 percent boost. Districts hoped to get more money when the budget process began in February, but because of lower-than-expected tax revenues, the amount of the increase was scaled back.

"School districts are seeing a smaller than anticipated increase this year, but it is an increase nonetheless," Sen. Ron Jelinek, a Republican from Three Oaks and chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said in a statement. "We understand the economic shortfalls they are facing and have done what we can to help them out."

Overall, the state's school aid fund would total nearly $13.4 billion for the fiscal year starting in October.

About $15 million would be allocated for Gov. Jennifer Granholm's plan to expand a pilot project and help create smaller high schools in some Michigan districts. It's less money than Granholm wanted but should give the project aimed at improving graduation rates a limited boost.

Granholm says that creating smaller high schools in some districts could help create a better learning environment and improve student performance. Districts would be eligible for grants of up to $3 million. The district would have to match the grant, which could involve money from private foundations.

"We are going to leverage external dollars to be able to provide these options that prevent dropouts," Granholm said Thursday.

Districts with graduation rates of less than 70 percent would be eligible for the grants. Districts would have to return half the grant money if they aren't graduating at least 80 percent of their students by the third year of the program. Eighty percent of graduates would have to go on to postsecondary education for schools to keep all the grant money.

Granholm had wanted to raise more than $300 million for the project over a several year period by borrowing against future school aid revenue. But some lawmakers didn't want to add to state debt and restrict future school aid budgets to pay for the project. That would have included about $32 million next fiscal year to pay debt on bonds.

The school aid plan also adds a combined $10 million to early childhood education and school readiness programs.

Most of next fiscal year's budget has already been approved by the state Legislature. Granholm has begun signing the budget bills into law.